


Hidden Talent

by just_a_noona



Series: Carrier [3]
Category: Block B
Genre: Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, F/M, Gen, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-26
Updated: 2016-10-30
Packaged: 2018-08-11 03:56:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7875220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/just_a_noona/pseuds/just_a_noona
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Vasilisa is a mage. So is her best friend, Minhyuk. Once Minhyuk got famous, the magic connection started causing issues. Together, they try to keep things manageable.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Enchantress

_Enchantress._  That was the only word that came to mind when I saw her. It was easy to recognise someone like me. Especially when they used their gifts so obviously.

I eyed her as she twirled her hair between her fingers just so. The extra movement of her fingertips, the smooth and silent words she enunciated whenever he looked away for a moment.  _Jeez, be a little more obvious why not?_

She laughed as he whispered something in her ear. I rolled my eyes, groaning. I knew I should have made him a clearsight charm ages ago. It sucked being one of the only two here that could see her real face.

She wasn’t bad looking. She was just a good 120 years older than she was presenting herself. I hate liars, especially the vain ones.

I found Yukwon and pulled him aside.

“You know that I love all seven of you and only want what’s best for you, right?”

“I’m not going to like this, am I?” He quirked an eyebrow at me.

“It’s this girl. The one Zico is talking to.” He looked around discretely, spotting them in seconds.

“Jesus… Lucky bast…”

“Anyway!”

“What’s wrong with her? What could possibly be bad enough to…”

“Just trust me. She’s bad news.”

“How do you know?” Yukwon looked at me intently.

“What part of ‘just trust me’ didn’t you get?” I was losing hope. I could see that her charms were getting in the way.

“Are… Are you jealous? I mean…” He looked her over again, “I wouldn’t blame you if you were.”

“Oh this is pointless. Just don’t blame me when this goes downhill. And do not let him out of your sight tonight.”

I quickly and quietly slipped away from the party.

* * *

Walking through the alley between some bars I paused. I heard a familiar gait approach.

“You saw her?” A voice came out of the shadows.

“Obviously. What do you think she wants?”

“What do any of them want? Money? A little limelight? To feel young again? A suitable sacrifice for some picky eater? Who knows?”

“That’s not exactly helping Minhyuk. What are we going to do?”

He stepped forward, into a slant of light. He just loved his dramatic entrances.

“A clearsight charm would allow him…”

“And when he freaks out at the sudden reveal?”

“We’ll tell him he was drunk.”

“And when the others’ stories don’t match up? When they can still see her façade?”

“So we make six of them.”

“You know we don’t have enough time for that.”

“Jeez. You’re so impatient. Who says we have to solve it tonight?”

“We don’t know how fast she’s going to move.”

“Nobody would risk moving so fast.”

I ran my hand through my hair, exasperated.

“I’m going to go read. You get back and keep an eye on her. Call me…”

“If I need anything. I know.”

He turned back down the alley, returning to the gathering. I pulled some chalk out of my purse. Glancing around to be sure I was unobserved, I drew up my door.

* * *

I stepped through to my study, greeted by the chittering of my familiar. I lifted the chinchilla and walked towards the bookshelves on the back wall.

“There’s got to be a subtler way… Jesus, no! I’m not going to kill her… That’s your solution to everything… That’s it, no more television when I’m not around…”

Between Pyewocket’s overly imaginative suggestions and my books I narrowed my options down to a list of four.

  * Create clearsight charms for all six of them
  * Somehow plant a Gallagher’s amulet on her
  * Slip everyone involved a reset mix
  * Diplomacy



“I… Fine, I’ll add it but I am not going to go through with it…”

  * Kill her



“Look, it’s a lot harder to get away with these days… Also, it’s not necessary. I’ll probably do a clearsight and reset combo… I am not getting soft!… I’m not! I’m just getting careful…”

We argued for a while, and I called Minhyuk to discuss options.

“The way I see it, the best approach is a reset with clearsight charms for all of them.”

“A two day reset? That’s a bit much.”

“I’m open to suggestions.”

“What about Gallagher…?”

“Thought about it. It’s easier for us to get to them than to her though.”

“Fair enough. Did Pyewocket seriously suggest killing her?”

“She’s been cooped up too long.”

I heard him start to curse slightly under his breath.

“You, ah, need to get back to the party.”

“God damn it.”

“Grab your bag. Let’s go,” Minhyuk’s voice came through my phone, and from the doorway behind me.

“It can’t be that bad if you left to bring me,” I muttered as I tossed some supplies into my bag.

“Just hurry.”

He held the door open for me. I could see the bathroom of the bar through it.

“Real classy Minhyuk.”

“I’m sorry,” he spit out sarcastically, “I didn’t exactly have time to set up a secure place.”

We stepped from my carpet to the tiles.

“Aigo… What will they think seeing the two of us walk out of here?”

“Trust me. No one will notice.”

* * *

The shouts coming through the now closed door were proof that Minhyuk was probably correct. We looked at each other uneasily and then walked out. As soon as I saw the scene before me I grabbed Minhyuk’s hand.

**“Skorost’!”**

Everything around us slowed to a nearly frozen state.

“Vasilisa, how do you ever complain about not having time for things?”

“Shut up and start thinking Minhyuk. We have, from our perspective, about half an hour to solve this,” I was already walking towards the Enchantress. She had hurled something towards Zico. A curse bottle.

I glanced at Zico. He was standing over P.O, an enraged look on his face. P.O was worse off, sprawled on the floor and sporting a freshly busted lip.

“Well, I think we found our motivation.”

Minhyuk looked up from the floor. He was digging through the Enchantress’ bag.

“How do you figure?”

“Come on Minhyuk, everyone wants to feel important. What could prove you’re important better than having people literally fight over you? She just wants to be Helen,” I sighed, shaking my head. I understood the desire, but this was ridiculous.

“That explains these.” Minhyuk held up an old style atomiser and a pill box. The liquid in the atomiser was brightly and deeply red, swirls of blue lingering in it. The pill box was filled with…

“Powdered almond, chilli pepper, elm twigs, and what looks like dragon’s blood resin.”

I couldn’t help but to roll my eyes.

“How does she have such an amateur hour tin but such a strong perfume?” I asked, taking the atomiser from Minhyuk’s hands.

“Not all of us have personal libraries. She could have learned the perfume from someone, but have an incomplete education.”

“Okay,” I tossed both items into my bag, “but she’s like 150 years old. How do you get that old and still use almond?”

Minhuk shrugged. I shook my head and walked towards the door, retrieving my chalk.

“Whatever. It doesn’t matter right now. You grab that bottle, I’m going to get a Gallagher.”

“But the time spell…”

“I’ll leave the door open, you’ll be fine.”

I drew up my door and walked as quickly as I could to find one of the Gallagher amulets that I kept around. It was lucky they were so easy to make. It was also lucky I was paranoid enough to keep a few dozen around at all times.

I didn’t know how I was going to explain the sudden change to everyone, but I honestly didn’t really have the time to worry about it. Minhyuk would come up with something. He always comes up with something. I finally found one of the amulets tucked into a book as a bookmark.  _Well, I hope that page isn’t that important._  I grabbed it and dashed back into the bar.

“Got it?”

Rather than answering him I just knelt and tucked the amulet into the Enchantress’ braid.

“What are you doing?”

“She’s going to notice that her magic isn’t working. She’ll look for a Gallagher first thing. I’m betting she won’t think to check her hair.”

“Brilliant. Guess what’s in the bottle.”

“Oh gosh, I don’t know. Belladonna and foxglove?” I couldn’t keep the contempt out of my voice.

“Even better,” Minhyuk grinned. He uncorked the bottle and I was instantly hit by the smell.

“Soul Dust?” I coughed out, “Where the hell do you even get that much?”

“I don’t know. But she wasn’t just here to feel important. She was sent to collect him,” he nodded towards Zico. “The drama was probably just a distraction, and an ego boost.”

I rubbed my face in my hands. I got as much of the chalk off of the wall as I could. This was exhausting. I double checked that the amulet was secure in the Enchantress’ hair and walked to Minhyuk’s side.

“What are we going to tell them this time?” I took Minhyuk’s hand again.

“Leave it to me Vasilisa.”

“Ready?”

“Yep.”

I looked over the room one more time. Jaehyo, Kyung, and P.O would need first aid. Well, might as well get this over with.

“ **Otdykh**.”

* * *

Chaos reigned as soon as the word left my mouth. Surprised shouts from everyone other than Zico and P.O brought Zico’s attention away from whatever he had been planning on subjecting the younger man to. He turned and was confronted by what appeared to him to be a very confused seventy year old woman wearing the clothes of the model he had been taken with earlier that night.

The Enchantress fled the scene as quickly as possible. I had been wrong in assuming that she would opt to search for the amulet. She simply bolted through the bar and out the door.

Minhyuk and I glanced at each other. We were both instantly set upon by Zico, Taeil, and P.O demanding to know what had just happened.

“How did you two just appear there?” Zico’s voice was the loudest, thus it got the first answer. I looked at Minhyuk for guidance, holding the tip of my tongue between my teeth.

“Well,” Minhyuk started. He shot me an apologetic look before continuing, “Vasilisa and I are actually warlocks.”

I took a step back and started yelling.

“MINHYUK-AH! What the hell are you doing?! You’re planning a reset, right?! You can’t just…”

“Vasil-ah… We can’t just keep hiding it from them. You know that they’d…”

I wasn’t listening any more. I pulled the chalk from my bag and walked to one of the walls. If Minhyuk wants a mess, I’ll give him a mess. I pulled the door open so hard that it bounced against the wall.

* * *

Pyewocket immediately suggested killing Minhyuk. I picked her up and headed towards the back room.

“Oh my god Pyewocket… just relax. I’m sure that Minhyuk will…”

“What is this place?”

I spun to see Zico pulling the door closed behind him. He stared around my library and workspace.

“What are you… You need to leave. You need to go back and…”

“Judging by the fact that I just tried to knock out P.O, no. I should maybe try to stay out of everyone’s way for a while,” he spoke quietly. He finally turned his gaze to me.

He smiled awkwardly, “So… what happened? What is happening? Am I just really drunk right now? Because it seemed like a hot chick transformed into a grandmother and you and Minhyuk can teleport.”

I heaved a sigh and jerked my head towards the back room. Zico followed me as I walked into the kitchen.

“Is this why your apartment is so bare? Everything is here?”

I stayed silent. I set a kettle to boiling and lifted a flame in the fireplace. After placing Pyewocket on her cushion, I brewed two cups of tea. Zico watched me, for once in his life being quiet. I placed the cups on the table and sat down, waving a hand for him to sit across from me.

I eyed him over the rim of my cup as he sat down. After a deep sip, I straightened up and put my cup down.

“Alright. Specific questions only. Go,” I commanded.

“Well, I guess first off is if the tea is just tea.”

“Peppermint. Next.”

“That woman… what was she?”

“Enchantress, sorceress, magician, witch… there are a hundred words. She used magic.”

“Like you and Minhyuk?” Zico looked a little…  _oh my god, is the tough cookie scared?_

“I guess. Minhyuk and I don’t serve any masters though.”

“She did?”

“She had a bottle of Soul Dust. It’s used to… she was sent to bring you to someone.”

“Me? Specifically me?”

“I don’t know.”

“Then why did she… Why did I hit P.O?”

“I wasn’t there, but I’m guessing that she was using her magic to make you… it’s not love but more like obsession. She probably had you obsessed, and then decided it would be fun to cause trouble by saying that Jihoon had… I don’t know… asked for her number. With the stuff she was using, it wouldn’t take much to set you off.”

“Why can I only sort of remember what happened?”

“I used an amulet to bind her magic. In binding it, the effects ended. Since one of the effects was to make you… not yourself…" I paused, trying to think of how to explain it. "It’s like a magical hangover.”

“That party a few months ago… the one that no one can remember…”

“Local kid blossomed, couldn’t control himself. Puberty to the nth degree, basically. It would have been fine, except his parents weren’t in the picture. Minhyuk, a few others, and I took care of it.”

“And the rest of us had a magical hangover?”

“No. Minhyuk and I did a reset. We wiped your memories of it. Told you guys that you got too drunk.”

Zico leaned back in his chair. He stared at me hard. He didn’t seem mad though. Which was strange.  _He should be mad. Why isn’t he mad?_

“How many times have you guys done that? Wiped our memories?”

“This is the sixth time this year.”

“Sixth!?” He leaned forward on the table. His eyes were wide with shock.

“Yeah. It’s been a pretty quiet year.”

“Quiet? Six times is quiet?!”

“Remember two years ago when you were worried about how much you were drinking?”

Zico stared at me, his mouth hanging slightly open. He shook his head, as if that could dislodge everything that I had told him. I watched him slump slightly, resting his head in his hands.

“You and Minhyuk… you’ve… you’ve been cleaning this sort of thing up for years.”

“It’s gotten easier over the years. We’ve gotten closer; we’re better at working together.”

“Closer… so you and Minhyuk are… close?”

“Yeah. I guess. I mean, he knows how to get here on his own. That’s about as close as someone can get.”

I was looking at my cup as I said it. I missed Zico’s facial expression, but I felt the atmosphere shift. Now he was mad.

“Why don’t you guys go public then?” His voice was harder now. It was as if he had to put more effort into forming the syllables.

“We can’t. Sure, you’re handling this pretty well, but can you imagine what the public at large would think? Nobody can know about us.”

“The fans hardly even care about him. It would be easier than if it was someone more popular. Like P.O or Kyung… Or me.”

“I’m pretty sure it would draw attention. Fans? Wouldn’t they feel like maybe they had been tricked?” I idly swirled the steam from my cup into a little house shape as I spoke.

Zico was quiet, so I elaborated, “Minhyuk being overlooked makes it worse. There would those people that would think that was the only reason he was in the group at all.”

“How would it have had any impact?” Zico scoffed.

“Are you stupid? Of course being a warlock would have an impact. What if he had used his powers to attain fame? It wouldn’t be fair to people who work hard without magic.”

“Magic? What does that… I was talking about your relationship.”

The smokey image collapsed. I looked up at Zico, confused.

“Relationship? What…”

“You said that he was as close as anyone could get.”

“Because of magic. He’s not… We aren’t… No. No no no no. Nope. Not… No.” There was literally no better word to describe how incorrect Zico’s assumption had been. Except for maybe…

“Never.”

“But you said…”

“I know what I said. Minhyuk could walk through my door at any time, but you know the security code for my apartment. It’s like that. It’s just… The magic version.”

Zico stood, circled the table, and leaned against it. He opened his mouth, then looked annoyed and shut it again.

“I’m still open to answering questions. It’s obvious you have a big one.”

He huffed and crouched down. He spread his arms out on the table edge, supporting his balance as he looked up at me.

“Are you going to erase my memory again? Is that why you’re telling me all of this?”

“Maybe. I don’t know. I have to talk to Minhyuk.”

“Minhyuk… So he gets to decide what’s best for me?”

“It’s not like that.”

“It’s exactly like that. Minhyuk,” Zico shook his head. He rose, leaning back on the table again. He didn’t look at me as he spoke again. “I think you shouldn’t trust Minhyuk so much.”

“Why not? We’re like partners. Siblings.”

“Do you remember the Christmas party last year?”

“No. None of us do. Though with how many empty bottles of soju were…”

My eyes widened, catching Zico’s implication.

“You don’t think he… Minhyuk wouldn’t… Not to me.”

“Kyung found a video. He showed me. He had taken it with his phone and emailed it to himself to save his phone’s storage space,” Zico’s voice cracked slightly.

“And in that video? What was it?” I almost didn’t want to know.  _What would be bad enough to make Minhyuk reset me?_

“To be fair, I was drunk. I had pulled you into the kitchen and…” He swallowed before continuing. “Kyung knew what I was going to do. So he thought it’d be funny to record.”

I busied myself with cleaning up the cups. If Zico had done something that made Minhyuk do a reset… I glanced at him. His face was flushed and he was chewing on his lips. He’s tall, sure, but I’m sure I would be able to…

“I confessed to you that night. I confessed and you nearly spit out your drink in surprise.”

I dropped a cup in relief. This was a far more manageable situation. Minhyuk though… I slammed my palm on the counter.

“That son of a… Seriously?! I’m going to kill him. Pyewocket? Where’s my… Right. Thanks.”

I stormed into the library. Zico scrambled to follow after me. He was saying something, but I wasn’t listening. I couldn’t believe that Minhyuk would be so petty.  _He had reset me for that? For a drunk confession from Zico? In what world would that be worth the effort?_

I stopped in my tracks, hand frozen as I reached for a particular sachet.  _Why had it been worth a reset?_  I turned to face Zico.

“What was the rest of the video?”

“Ah… Well…” Zico flushed as he stammered. “It wasn’t… I mean… There wasn’t much…”

“What was it? Minhyuk wouldn’t go through a reset for nothing. It’s a simple task, but tiring. There had to be a reason he wouldn’t just try persuasion if he was jealous.”

Zico danced his fingertips along a bookshelf next to him. He looked at me, but quickly turned his eyes back to the books.

“Ah… You… Well you didn’t say no.”

“Obviously. But what happened?”

“What do you mean obviously? Do you know how nervous I was? I had planned that for weeks. When we all woke up and you were in P.O’s bed and P.O was with me in mine I assumed you had turned me down. Or that I had chickened out.”

“Not the important thing here. What happened?”

“So, we might have both been a little drunk. We kind of… I mean Kyung stopped recording so I don’t know how it ended, but… Uh… You got a little… Dominant.”

“Obviously. But I mean…”

“Based on what I saw, before Kyung swore and turned off the camera, I’m honestly surprised neither of us had marks.”

“What? Why? How…” Zico’s cheeks were bright red. I cleared my throat, “oh.”

“Yeah. Oh.”

“Do you… Does Kyung still have the video?”

“He sent it to me. It… Might still be on my computer.” He feigned being incredibly interested in a stain in the grain of the shelves.

I raised an extremely smug eyebrow at him. I raised a hand to his cheek.  _Jesus, he felt like he could light fires._

I gripped his chin, making him look at me. He licked his lips nervously, eyes bouncing across my face and eventually settling on a spot behind me.

“It wasn’t… I don’t think Kyung saw anything that… Well…”

I loosed my hold on him, snapping my fingers in front of him to bring his attention to me.

“What did you say?”

“What? That Kyung didn’t…”

“I meant in the video. When you confessed.”

“Oh… Ah… That I… Well…” He cleared his throat. His eyes slid off my face again.

“Yah!” I stepped back, rolling my eyes. “I literally just said that I obviously wouldn’t reject you, right? Just say it,” I demanded.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

“Since it’s Christmas, and Christmas is for couples, I want to ask if you and I could become a couple.”

I couldn’t help but to let a quick laugh slip out. Zico opened his eyes.

“Yah… You said that you…”

“No, no, it’s just… It’s not Christmas.”

“You asked what I said in the video. And it was Christmas when I said it,” he pouted. “You didn’t have to laugh at me.”

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Just one more question.”

“Fine.”

“What did I say?”

“You, ah, didn’t. Say anything, that is. You just came in an…”

I leaned forward on my toes and kissed him.

His entire body tensed up.  _Idiot. What did he think I was going to do?_  I didn’t pull back, hoping the tenseness was from surprise and not… something worse.

After a second he relaxed, raising his hands to my face. Years worth of desire broke through the dams we had both built to protect our friendship. I slid my hands under his shirt, running them up and over the tattoos I had seen a hundred times. They kept travelling up, taking the shirt with them.

Our lips broke apart for a second so I could pull the shirt over his head. Zico pulled his hair back, securing it with one of the ubiquitous hair ties from his wrist.

As soon as he was done his hands were on me again, pulling me towards him for another kiss. I slid my hands over his, entwining our fingers. I pushed his hands up and back, holding them against the shelves. He groaned as I pulled his bottom lip between my teeth.

Pyewocket ran up to us, alerting me to a problem I had been too busy to notice. I pulled away from Zico. He kept his hands where I left them, looking at me slightly confused.

“Fuck. Okay. Thanks. Shi…”

“Vasilisa-yah? Have you seen Zico?” Minhyuk’s voice floated towards us, getting louder, closer. His voice continued, “He disappeared and I want to make sure that… Oh.” Minhyuk turned into the aisle that Zico and I were in.

He looked over Zico’s bare chest with disdain.

“Again, huh? Figures.”

“Skor-”

* * *

I woke up in a bed that was obviously not mine. My head felt like something had exploded inside it. I looked around.  _Taeil’s room?_

I made my way to the dorm’s kitchen. I kept my eyes shut against the bright sunlight streaming in through the window. Navigating from memory, I opened the cabinet over the sink and pulled down a glass. I filled it with water and started my healing.

“Aish… do you remember anything from last night?” A familiar, and tired sounding, voice asked behind me. I didn’t bother turning or opening my eyes.

“No. I had a weird dream though. Zico was in my library I think. Do you remember anything?”

His fingertips found the knots in my shoulders. After years of taking care of each other, he knew exactly how my hangovers worked.

“Nothing. Just one of those parties I guess.”

His fingers worked some of the tension out of my muscles.

“I am so lucky to have a friend like you Minhyuk.”


	2. Chapter 2

I sat on the floor of Minhyuk’s room, flipping idly through a magazine. I paused over an interview that Jiho had done. I hadn’t read it yet, so I skimmed over it with mild interest.

“What are you reading?”

“Interview. Jiho’s photos came out well, don’t you think?”

Minhyuk sighed, “they usually do.”

I nodded, still reading.

“Yah, Vasilisa…”

“Hmm?”

“Do you… You never talk about guys.”

I looked up at Minhyuk, shaking my bangs out of my eyes.

“Should I talk about guys?”

“Well,” he looked a bit uncomfortable, “I just wonder. We’re best friends. So if you were interested in someone, you’d tell me, right?”

“Sure,” I returned to the interview, “I guess.”

I heard him sigh, and his chair creak, as he relaxed.

“If it were serious enough.”

He scrambled to the floor next to me.

“So there is someone? Someone you like?”

I tossed the magazine onto his bed, behind me.

“What’s with these questions?”

“I just…” His ears were tinged with pink now, “I wonder. It’s the sort of thing friends talk about.”

“You don’t tell me about girls you like.”

“I don’t… I mean I like girls… But there isn’t… Forget it,” he stood, heading for the door. “It’s stupid.”

“Okay,” I shrugged. I wasn’t particularly fussed with the conversation. Minhyuk obviously had a crush on someone. If he wasn’t ready to talk about it though, well, I wasn’t going to force him.

I pulled myself up, following him out into the common area. He went through to the kitchen, I stopped in the living room.

Jihoon was sprawled across the sofa, napping as Taeil watched children’s cartoons from the floor. I smiled and joined him, pushing Jihoon’s legs so I could actually have some sofa space. Jihoon groaned.

“Mmm… Leave me alone Taeil.”

“It wasn’t me.”

Jihoon blinked his eyes open a little, spotting me. He slowly sat up, then started teetering in the opposite direction. His head landed on my lap.

“Nice, noona pillow.”

“I’d be much more opposed to this if it were anyone else but you.” I started running my fingers through Jihoon’s hair. The maknae’s eyes dropped shut again. Anyone that didn’t know him very well might think he was just a giant toddler. Anyone that didn’t know him would be pretty close to 100% correct in my eyes. He was the personification of the word maknae. I had left my baby brother behind when I fled Russia, and Jihoon suffered all the benefit of my missing Anatoly. I knew I probably spoiled the kid, but we all have our coping mechanisms.

“Plodyka… Why are you so tired?”

Jihoon was too tired to answer me himself, so Taeil piped up.

“He was out late last night with Mino and Jiho.”

“That explains the soup in the kitchen,” Minhyuk had returned. He nudged Jihoon’s legs, “make some room.” Jihoon whined in response, but curled his legs up to make a bit of space for Minhyuk to sit.

The four of us stayed in lazy silence, watching Little Wizard Tao. It occurred to me that one of the boys must have actually owned it on DVD, since there weren’t any commercials.

I got bored with it pretty quickly.

“You know, I think a girl has caught Minhyuk’s eye,” I knew that giving a chance at teasing was a guaranteed conversation starter. I wasn’t going to force him into talking, but I was definitely going to tease him. Besties gotta best.

Jihoon opened his eyes and turned onto his back, stretching his legs over Minhyuk.

“I told you I don’t,” Minhyuk pulled his hood up, obviously trying to hide.

“Who is it noona?”

“I don’t know. He ran away when I asked him about it.”

“I have a guess who it is,” Taeil’s voice was a little louder than necessary, compensating to be heard over Minhyuk’s groaned denials.

“Really? Who’s your guess?” I leaned forward, eager for blackmail on my best friend. It was done without thinking, and I ended up pressing a little indecently into Jihoon’s face.

“Yah, Jihoon! Don’t do that!” Minhyuk landed a smack on Jihoon’s stomach.

“I wasn’t… She just… Noonaaaa, make him stop!”

On a mission, I removed myself from the growing quarrel on the sofa, slipping down to sit next to the eldest on the floor.

“So, who is it?” I leaned into him a bit, playing up the “younger” girl angle.

“I don’t think Minhyuk is ready for everyone to know about it.”

“You’re no fun,” I pouted at him. I moved, balancing on my kneecaps and fingertips, being as annoying as I could manage. “Just tell me a little about her. Maybe I can guess.”

“Vasilisa-yah, there isn’t…” Minhyuk started.

“She’s a little different. I’d go so far as to say that it’s almost like he was bewitched by her.”

I nearly fell into Taeil, my wrist twisting under me.

“Heol! Be careful there.” Taeil steadied me by my shoulder. He pushed me to sit back.

“Bewitch? That’s a…” I glanced up at Minhyuk, “different word choice.”

Taeil looked me straight on, “it’s accurate though.”

The fun was gone for me. I was too hung up on Taeil’s word choice to care about who the girl was. Minhyuk and I knew plenty of other casters, so it made sense that he might like one of them. But Taeil didn’t know about them, or us, or magic at all.

* * *

 

I ran. I ran as fast as I could. My feet were on fire from hitting the ground so hard, my thighs were melting from the stress. I kept running, trying to work my cellphone without looking at it, too busy watching my step and looking behind me. I heard the ringing through my headphones. I hoped to god I was calling the right number.

“Yeoboseyo?”

_Shit. Not Minhyuk’s voice._

“Jihoon? Fuck. Get Minnie for me.”

“He’s not here.”

“Fuck… Okay… Fuck…”

“Are you okay?”

I barely heard him over the deep rumbling call behind me.

“I’m… Fucking hell!”

“Noona?!”

I wasn’t listening any more. I was faced with a fence. A smooth wooden fence. I desperately started jumping, trying to get a grip on the top to haul myself over.

“Vasilisa?!” A lighter voice called through my headphones.

“Taeil!”

“What’s going on? Are you…”

The rumble, closer this time.

“What was that Vasilisa?”

“I’m trapped… It’s coming… Taeil I can’t…”

“Listen Vasilisa. Listen carefully. You need to close your eyes.”

“Taeil you need to tell Minhyuk…”

“Close your eyes. Close your eyes and I’ll come get you,” his voice hit some part of my brain. A dart delivering a paralytic to my body. I slumped, sitting against the fence. “I need you to see me. Close your eyes and see me. Can you do that, Vasilisa?”

I saw a blue haze gathering at the end of the alleyway, the rumbling reverberating in my chest.

“Taeil it’s coming… Tell Minhyuk that the nest…”

“Close your eyes and see me. I’m there. I’m holding my left hand out. Can you see my hand Vasilisa?”

I squeezed my eyes shut, desperately trying to conjure up the image of Taeil. The noise was beating on my rib cage, hammer blows threatening to crack my ribs.

“Taeil,” I whispered, “it’s here.”

“Take my hand Vasilisa. I’m here.”

I felt a hand grip mine. I was jolted through warmth and coldness, strong currants whipping around me. Then it was stillness. I was sitting on a warm surface. The air was warmer, and smelled like cooking beef.

A loud crashing sound made me open my eyes. I was sitting in the kitchen in the boy’s dorm. Jihoon stood behind me, a broken plate at his feet. Taeil was kneeling in front if me, his left hand tightly wound into mine. Jihoon was saying something, but I couldn’t process it.

“How did you…”

Taeil grinned at me. His eyes were pinpricks of electricity.

“I’m pretty good at hiding, right?”

* * *

 

“You can’t tell him!”

“He needs to know!”

“No, he, look,” Taeil ran his fingers through his hair, tugging at it in frustration. “I know Minhyuk is your friend but I don’t want him to know. I didn’t even want you to know!”

“Then what am I supposed to tell him? And what about Jihoon?!”

Taeil smirked.

“I’ll handle Jihoon, just promise you won’t tell Minhyuk.”

I gave Taeil a hard stare. There was no reason I could see not to tell Minhyuk. But I remembered how scared I had once been.

“Fine. What do you suggest I tell him then?”

* * *

 

“Vasilisa? What’s wrong?”

Minhyuk was home. I would have been surprised that he already knew something was wrong, but he always knew. He could set foot in the building and know, even without seeing me.

Taeil gave me a pleading look before exiting his room. I heard a hushed conversation outside the door. I made out Taeil telling the story he had come up with.

“She won’t give me details though.”

“Alright, thanks hyung. Just, let me talk to her alone for a minute.”

Minhyuk opened the door to Taeil’s room. He didn’t waste time on words, crossing the small space quickly to crush me against his chest. He clung to me so tightly that I worried my glasses would break. He loosed a hand to pull them off, then renewed his grip.

“Minhyuk-ah…”

“I’m sorry. I know you hate that.”

I sighed, but I knew it wasn’t really his fault. I was still running high, and his control always dipped when he got emotional.

“Someone must have been taking care of the nest,” I muttered into his shirt. “They shouldn’t have hatched for at least another month.”

“How many?”

“Just the one so far, but who knows how many by now.”

“How did you get away?”

“Running, luck,” I shrugged, “I don’t really know.”

“Come on,” Minhyuk tugged me out of Taeil’s room, “you know my blankets are better.”

* * *

 

I laid on Minhyuk’s bed, wrapped tightly in his blankets. I could hear Taeil and him exchanging a whispered argument. I wriggled deeper into the blankets. Their voices eventually stilled.

I felt the mattress dip.

“Vasilisa…?” Minhyuk’s voice hit my ears.

“No.”

“Come on Vasi.”

“No.”

Another dip.

“Do you want anything?” Taeil, asking the right questions.

“No… Where are the others?”

“Jihoon is in his room. Jiho and Jaehyo are watching…”

“Get Jiho.”

I heard Minhyuk groan behind me. The second dip on the mattress retreated. I heard the soft click of Minhyuk’s door.

“Why Jiho? You can’t talk to him.”

“Exactly.”

Minhyuk clicked his tongue in annoyance, but kept quiet. After a minute I heard the door open again.

“… can help though.”

“Just get in there.”

Weight shifted on the bed. I felt a hand brush over my hair.

“Hey there.”

I rolled over and caterpillar crawled my way onto Jiho’s lap.

“Hey… What’s this?”

“Hugs.”

“Okay,” he wrapped his arms around me, “I can do that. Do you want to tell me what happened? Taeil said that you had a bad day.”

“Pervert.”

It was the story that Taeil came up with. It was the easiest excuse for our behaviour. Definitely easier than the truth.

His arms tightened and he started rocking me back and forth.

“Oh… Vasi… Are you okay? Tell me what you need.”

“Hugs.”

I heard a shuffling in the room. Probably Taeil ushering Minhyuk out.

I wriggled until I was laying on Minhyuk’s bed. Jiho propped himself on an elbow next to me. After a while he spoke again.

“You know, I bet Minhyuk can do this just as well.”

I didn’t respond.

“He’s probably not happy about me taking up his bed.”

I shrugged, not sure how that motion translated through my blanket cocoon.

“Or his girlfriend.”

I poked my head out of the blanket burrito.

“He… No.”

“I know for a fact that he’s the jealous type. I feel guilty, like I should go. I should let him…”

“No.”

“Vasi…”

“We aren’t dating.”

“What?”

“We’re just friends.”

“You’re serious?”

“Yes,” I sat up, annoyed. I’m sure my hair was a mess, but didn’t care. “I’ve told you a hundred times!”

Jiho stared up at me from the mattress.

“No you haven’t.”

“Yes I… Haven’t I?”

He shook his head.

“Whatever,” I flopped back onto the bed, “if he wants his bed he can ask for it. I should probably go home soon anyway.”

“Will you be alright?”

“Yeah. I mean,” I shrugged, “what are the chances it will happen twice in one day?”

“About 100% now that you’ve said that.”

I couldn’t help laughing.

“I’ll take a shortcut then.”

“I can give you a ride. Or,” Jiho cleared his throat, “I mean, you’ve slept at the dorm before.”

“Yeah, but I slept here last night.”

“So? It’s not like anyone minds. You could take Yukwon’s bed. He’s not here tonight anyway.”

I crinkled my nose, “gross.”

“What’s gross about Yukwon?”

“Nothing. But he has a girlfriend. It’s gross for another girl to sleep in his bed.”

“Then stay in Minhyuk’s. He can sleep in Yukwon’s.”

“Gross,” I giggled.

“Oh come on. I know for a fact, now that you’ve told me, that Minhyuk doesn’t have a girlfriend. Besides,” Jiho rewrapped me in the blanket, “I know you like his quilt the best.”

“Yeah, but his mattress is awful. Why do you think I slept in Jihoon’s bed?”

“Because Jihoon adores you like you were his real sister and never argues when you kick him out.”

“He also has a super soft mattress.”

Jiho leaned back against the headboard of Minhyuk’s bed, smiling.

“You’ve obviously never slept in Kyung’s bed then.”

“Why’s that?”

“His bed is like…” he paused to think, “it’s like sleeping on a mattress stuffed with the feathers from angel wings.”

“I’ll stay there then.”

“Good luck kicking him out of it.”

“But Jihooooo… After everything I went through today?”

“Fair point.” Jiho nodded. “I’ll kick him out. Do you want me to move too?”

I shook my head.

“Why would you?”

“Because… I mean… I don’t have a problem sleeping in the same room but it…” his brows dipped, and he licked his lips nervously, “it’s not really… proper.”

“No one else moves when I steal a bed, except Minhyuk.”

“That’s because they’re opportunists, or don’t see you as a woman,” Jiho’s brow wrinkled slightly.

“What?”

“Nothing. You’ll stay in Kyung’s bed. Kyung and I will take Yukwon’s bed.”

A knock sounded on the door, followed by Minhyuk poking his head inside.

“Can I have my room back?”

Jiho got off the bed and headed for the door.

“Sure thing. I have to go start bugging Kyung anyway.”

* * *

 

“Do you ever bother with non-combat spells?”

I tapped my pencil against my nose as I thought. I opened my mouth, but Minhyuk cut in.

“And reconnaissance spells don’t count.”

“Humph,” my jaw closed. Then, “what good are spells that aren’t useful?”

My pencil grew dark green and slightly waxy feeling. I swung it towards my face for another tap, but was met by a voluptuous and fragrant rose instead of the rubber eraser. I tossed it down onto my notebook.

“Spells don’t have to be for fighting to be useful.”

“What’s useful about turning pencils into flowers?”

“Pencils are cheap,” he smiled cheesily “and girls love flowers.”

I held the rose up towards him.

“Flowers are great and all, but I kind of need my pencil to finish this.”

Minhyuk shook his head, giving me one of those “you poor nerd” looks. He opened a drawer in his desk and handed me a new pencil.

“Here.”

“Cool, but what am I supposed to do with this?”

“Keep it,” he leaned back in his chair, “it will never wilt. Perpetually fresh flowers… That’s pretty cool, right?”

“Sure,” I laid it on his desk, “whatever you say.”

* * *

 

“That went well,” Minhyuk said cheerfully.

He lifted the small pendant from the ground, looking closely at the curvy female figurine hanging off the chain.

“I didn’t think she seemed like the amber type, but look,” he held it out to me.

Taking it, I looked it over. Typical. Unnatural dimensions, exaggerated dips and curves, a brightly shining gemstone set into a…

“Points to her for going for the nemes I guess.”

Minhyuk took the necklace back, looking it over again.

“Is that what it’s called? Looks heavy, impractical.”

“Yeah, well, they were made from cloth. Still,” I grabbed the helmet from the back of Minhyuk’s scooter, “leave it to a Succubus to go for style over practicality.”

Minhyuk dropped the necklace into an empty pill bottle and tossed it into his backpack. He quickly lifted me onto the back seat of the scooter.

“What are you doing?”

He blinked, looking between his hand still on my waist and the one that he had lifted to push some of my hair back. He pulled back, startled.

“Uh… I’m not sure?” He laughed nervously, “must be after effects.”

“Huh,” I shrugged, tugging the helmet onto my head, “I didn’t think that was how it worked.”

“It’s probably different for each person though, right?” Minhyuk took his place in front of me on the seat.

“I guess. I didn’t think you got hit that hard though. You held up pretty well. That girl you like must be pretty great.”

Minhyuk didn’t reply. He just settled his own helmet onto his head and started the small engine. He cleared his throat a bit, then changed the subject.

“What would a Succubus even want with a nest of those things?”

“Who knows?” I wrapped my arms around his waist, “maybe their saliva makes great hair gel. Let’s go.”


End file.
